Breaking Records- The Red Single
by StormWolf10
Summary: Third in the Breaking Records series. The Doctor and Rose find themselves with the monumentous task of recording a charity single for a certain event, but Rose can't help worrying about it...


**A/N: Ok, I think I've really buggered up the****storyline here, but oh well. For all intents and purposes, this takes place after 'The Better with Two' album, but Rose has only been living with them a few months.**

"You are kidding, right?" Rose asked uncertainly.

"Nope!" The Doctor announced with a grin.

"We're recording this year's Comic Relief single?" Jack asked, sure he'd gotten it wrong.

"Yep!"

Both Jack and Rose gaped at the Doctor, unsure what to say.

"We have to perform it live on the night, too," he added, still grinning from ear to ear.

Rose blinked.

"Live?" She echoed.

They'd discussed going on tour and stuff, but nothing had been confirmed, and now faced with having to perform to a crowd- and, in fact, a nation of viewers- Rose was suddenly very nervous. Recording things in the box room of their Guildford home was one thing, performing live on TV for charity was a different thing entirely.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied calmly "it'll be great!"

He turned to head to the kitchen, but suddenly stopped, popping his head back round the doorway of the front room.

"Oh, and you'll need to wear something red!"

**~StormWolf10~**

"I don't know what to do, Mum!" Rose whispered down the phone, panicked.

"Just tell him, Rose," Jackie told her daughter, sighing "and if you won't tell him, I will!"

"Mum, it's not that simple! It's a charity gig, it's Comic Relief! I can't just pull out of it!" Rose protested wide-eyed.

"Well, you can't do it if you're terrified!" Jackie pointed out sighing.

Rose sighed, thinking hard for a few minutes before finally replying.

"I think," She began slowly, resigned "I'm gonna have to bite the bullet. I'm gonna do it. I'll call you later, Mum."

Then, before Jackie could say anything, Rose ended the phone call.

**~StormWolf10~**

"Aww, but why not?!" Jack complained, following the Doctor around the kitchen.

"Because I said so!" the Doctor replied, rolling his eyes and glaring at his friend.

"But it'll be funny! And it _is_ for Comic Relief," Jack pointed out, trying out his most charming smile.

"What will be funny?" Rose asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Jack wants to wear a pair of red high heels for our performance." The Doctor told her with a sigh, moving to fill up the kettle "Cup of tea?"

"Yeah, thanks." Rose told him distractedly, staring at Jack, who merely grinned back. "Why do you want to wear red high heels?" she asked Jack in confusion.

Jack shrugged, still grinning.

"Just thought it would make it more interesting," Jack answered "we're not exactly used to live performances, and otherwise we'd just be stood there."

"But you'll be at your drum kit the entire time," Rose pointed out "no one will see them, and I doubt you can play in high heels."

"Wanna bet?" Jack asked, grinning wolfishly.

"Just leave it, Jack," the Doctor told the man in annoyance "you'll have to find something else to wear that's red." He then turned his attention to Rose as Jack grumbled and began pulling mugs for the tea out of the kitchen cupboard "What've you been doing?"

"Phoned Mum," Rose answered evasively "hadn't called her in a while."

The Doctor hummed in agreement, watching Rose carefully.

"Found anything to wear yet for the performance?" Jack asked her.

Rose shook her head.

"Not yet," she admitted, "but I can probably find a red hoodie to wear, or something."

The Doctor was still watching her carefully, but didn't speak again.

**~StormWolf10~**

As Comic Relief drew nearer- and, with it, the live performance- Rose grew more and more panicked. She knew it was far too late to pull out now; they'd already recorded the song- at a proper recording studio, and everything! That didn't stop her fears, however, and that was how she came to still be awake at three am a week before the live performance was due to take place. Rose sat in her bed, knees drawn up to her chest and head on her knees, the light on as she stared blankly at the wall opposite her bed. Suddenly, a knock on her bedroom door startled her.

"Rose?" the Doctor called through the door.

"Come in," Rose called back, confused.

The door slowly opened to reveal the Doctor, clad in just a pair of blue plaid pyjama bottoms. He was smiling somewhat awkwardly at her, as if he were a little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"What are you doing up at this time?" Rose asked quietly, motioning for him to come into the room rather than standing in the doorway.

"I could ask you the same thing." the Doctor joked with a small grin "Couldn't sleep." He admitted suddenly, shrugging "Keep going over and over The Red Single in my head, just to make sure nothing's wrong. "

With a sigh, he plopped himself at the foot of Rose's bed, sitting cross-legged opposite her. There had been a time where Rose would have been slightly put-out by that sort of behaviour, about how the Doctor acted as if he owned her room, but those times were long gone and it didn't at all surprise her now.

"And you?" the Doctor asked suddenly, surprising Rose slightly.

Rose blinked for a few moments before her brain processed the words and she spluttered, desperately attempting to form a response.

"I…Well…I…" Rose trailed off, sighing and lowering her gaze to the grey duvet, picking at it "I'm nervous."

"Ah," the Doctor replied quietly, nodding in understanding "sorry, I should have asked you first."

Rose shook her head.

"No you shouldn't. It's not the kind of offer you can turn down. Don't worry about it, Doctor," Rose told him, smiling gently.

"No, Rose, I should have asked. We're equal in the Record company, I should have checked you were ok with it." The Doctor protested, smiling weakly "I'm sorry. I should have thought…"

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'm just nervous," Rose replied, slightly shakily "once I'm up there I'll probably be alright."

The Doctor was about to reply when Rose's eyes fell to his upper left arm, and he realised he wasn't wearing a t-shirt. Rose was quickly on her knees, frowning slightly in curiosity as she edged towards him. The Doctor grinned and Rose flushed when she realised he was watching her.

"Sorry," she murmured, ducking her head slightly and sitting back on her heels.

"No, no, it's no bother," the Doctor assured her with a grin "I forgot you still hadn't seen my tattoo."

It was true, they'd lived with each other for months and months now, and the Doctor had told Rose about how he had a tattoo the night they'd first met, but he always wore t-shirts or shirts, and his tattoo had always been hidden from sight until now. Edging forward again, Rose cautiously ran her fingers over the black ink, tracing the treble clef design.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, still tracing it gently.

The Doctor smiled wonkily at her, watching her hand trace the outline of his tattoo.

"My Mother went mad when she saw it." He told her softly "Was far from happy. I was raised in a devout Christian home, and my parents were absolutely convinced that tattoos were the sign of the devil. She went off on a rant about how I'd go to hell for it, and how I should repent…Even dragged me to the nearest church to pray for forgiveness. She went even madder when she came home from work to find that I'd packed my bags and left. I moved in with my friend, Koschei, for a while. Of course, you know him as 'the Master'. We used to be really close friends, but we kind of…drifted apart…"

Rose watched the Doctor in concern as his voice faded. After a few moments, however, he shook himself from the trance and, with a smile, continued.

"I used what little money I had to my name to buy an old electric guitar from the music teacher at school, and I taught myself how to play. I only started learning because I knew how my Mother hated the electric guitar, but after a while, I began enjoying it and, well, I haven't stopped since. In the end, when Dad created Rassilon Records, he signed me up because he realised I wasn't going to give it up."

Rose smiled at him, finally finished tracing his tattoo.

"I've…I've always fancied a tattoo," Rose told him quietly "but I've never gotten one because I can never decide what I want."

"Ah," the Doctor told her, nodding slightly in understanding "best thing is to just go in there, point at a picture and let them get on with it. That's how I ended up with _this_ one."

He nodded at his tattoo and flashed Rose a grin.

"How did you know I was awake?" Rose asked suddenly, reminding them both that it was still very early morning.

"Saw your light on under the door," the Doctor admitted in embarrassment "I'd better leave you to sleep now."

The Doctor made to stand up, but Rose quickly grabbed his arm.

"Stay?" she suggested quietly, blushing slightly "Please?"

**~StormWolf10~**

The Doctor and Rose woke slowly just over five hours later, tangled beneath Rose's duvet together. They blinked, surveying each other in silence as the memories of a few hours previously flooded back. They then sat up slowly, in unison, and froze.

"Well, well," Jack drawled with a smirk, leaning casually against Rose's doorframe "looks like you two had some fun last night and didn't invite me!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes while Rose blushed. The Doctor slid out of the bed, padding across the room.

"We were sleeping, Jack. Nothing more." He told his friend calmly, pushing past Jack and heading into the kitchen.

Jack grinned and followed his friend as Rose clambered out of bed and followed the two men.

"We really _were_ just sleeping." Rose told Jack as the three of them began preparing breakfast "The Doctor came down at about three and saw that I was still awake. We talked for a bit and then we went to sleep."

Jack's face drooped slightly at the news that his friends really _had_ just slept.

"Oh," Jack murmured, dropping some slices of bread into the toaster "well that's boring."

**~StormWolf10~**

Finally, after weeks of worrying, and long nights, and rehearsing, it was finally time.

"Ready?" the Doctor asked Rose quietly as they stood backstage.

She smiled weakly at him and nodded. The Doctor smiled uncertainly back, and glanced over at Jack, who was twirling his drumsticks in his fingers and trying to look at ease. All three of them were ridiculously nervous, and they had no idea what to expect. Of course, they were all wearing something red for the cause; Jack had even gone so far as to streak red hair dye in his fringe. Rose and the Doctor had both just stuck to red clothes, the Doctor wearing a red fitted t-shirt and red converses, while Rose had a pair of red skinny jeans on with a comic relief t-shirt. Both of them had their guitars on straps around their shoulders, but Jack's drum kit was already onstage. The trio were lost in their own little worlds, but then they suddenly heard the presenter announce their name, and the crowd was cheering, and they were walking onto the stage without being really aware their feet were moving. Rose abruptly found herself at the front of the stage, stood a little way away from the Doctor, and in front of a ridiculously large crowd, all of which were screaming and cheering. She could see various camera crews scattered around, and Rose suddenly realised that she didn't need to fake a smile because she was already grinning, a real proper grin. Glancing over at the Doctor, he was grinning too, and she caught his gaze for a split second before Jack began thumping the drums and they began playing. The Doctor began belting out the lyrics to the song, and Rose joined in with the harmony. Soon, the whole audience was joining in and Rose had never felt so alive. All too soon, they were strumming the final chords of the song, and when they finished, Rose looked over at the Doctor again, beaming at him. They were soon joined again by the presenter, who thanked them as they headed offstage. As soon as they were away from the audience and the cameras, the Doctor let out a laugh, grinning from ear to ear.

"That was brilliant!" he exclaimed, tugging Rose into his side as he high-fived Jack.

"I know! How awesome was that?!" Jack asked, virtually bouncing up and down.

"I think we need to start doing stuff like this more often," Rose told them as they headed further backstage "do more gigs and stuff."

"Well," the Doctor announced with a grin "you know what that means, right?"

Both Jack and Rose shook their heads, confused.

"I think we need to start on another album." The Doctor told them, beaming.

"Oh great," Jack announced in mock annoyance "another several months locked in the recording studio!"


End file.
